Mojave Misfits
by Shadow knight1121
Summary: After escaping a Legion Stronghold, a handful of ex NCR troops and lone travelers venture out into the Mojave Desert in search of fortune, revenge and a place to call home. With Caesar's Legion and the NCR at war, everything is up for grabs and the misfits plan to take this opportunity by the horns.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: A Rough Start**

**Authors Note: I've been a Fallout mode and decided to write a new story. I thank you all for your oc's and hope you stick around for the fun.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout.**

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I finished skinning the gecko that has been harassing our Brahmin. After I bagged it I loaded my dad's repeater before heading back inside our small house. We lived in the outskirts of New Vegas. Our house was settled on some rich soil, perfect for farming and livestock.

We sold most of our product to the kings and NCR troops, since they have their hands full with the Legionnaires. It was a perfect set up. It was just me, my mom and dad working the land and making caps. As long as we had each other and the NCR looking out for us, we had nothing to fear. I stepped onto then porch of our house.

"Hey dad, I finished off the rest of the gecko." I called out through the screen door. He stepped out in his wearing his blue shirt and black overalls, topped off with his favorite rattan cowboy hat. He walked over to me and smiled.

"Good work son." He chuckled as he rubbed his hand through my messy black hair. "Now we got free dinner and some skins to sell. We're going to make a killing at Vegas."

"Can we go to the strip afterwards?" I asked eagerly. My dad gave me a skeptical look, I guess not. "Why not?"

"Your mom will have my ass if I let you-"

His face fell. I was confused for a moment before he came out with his hunting rifle.

"Get inside and lock the door boy." He ordered. I never saw dad like this. I assumed it was a raider attack, but it was far worse.

"Legion?" I turned and saw a pack of men cladded in red. My eyes widened when I saw a man waving a flag with a symbol of a yellow bull. I was pulled back by the collar of my shirt and hauled up the porch.

"Get the fuck inside boy!" My father shouted. I was thrown inside as he slammed the door from outside. My mother walked up to me and helped me up.

"What's wrong?" She asked. I quickly ran over to the door and locked it from the inside before walking to the window. I hid behind the curtains as my dad confronted the group of legionnaires. I kept the repeater ready.

"Can I help you folks?" My dad asked. I saw his fingers tap the grip of his rifle repeatedly. A man with a wolf helmet smiled and stood up to my father. The group had a few men with machetes and knives, while some were armed with submachine guns and hunting rifles. My heart was pounding something fierce as the man stood with his hands behind his back.

"Hello, I am Atlas Reyes." My dad grips his rifle tighter. I slowly poke my rifle out and lay the barrel on the windowsill. Out of the corner of my eye I see my mom ready dad's lever action shotgun. I look back outside and see the man talking to dad some more.

"We understand that you serve the bear your cattle and offer them shelter when they pass." He said in a venomous tone.

"They pay us for the cattle and for the rooms and we sell it a cheap price." My father assured. "What we do on our land is our own business."

"Well it is no longer your land, Caesar now owns these lands."

"Since when?" My father asked.

"Since I and my brothers slewed the troops guarding your farm." He grinned as he pulled out his gladius. He swiped a red cloth down the blade. The sick bastard was threating my dad and enjoying every minute of it. "Now, we have a new proposition for you. You and your son shall give your cattle to us, then you will pledge your allegiance to the Legion."

"And my wife?" My dad snarled. My mother cocked the shotgun. The man's teeth shined as bright as his knife.

"I think we both know what is to come of her."

My dad went to point his rifle at him, but Atlas was too fast and kicked him in the center of his chest. My father landed against the door, his head made a small hole right through the bottom of the door.

I fired at my repeater and hit Atlas in his chest. He fell back as the rest of his men became alerted and drew their blades and guns. I cocked the rifle and shot a nearby grunt aiming his rifle at me. My dad quickly grabbed his rifle and fired a round into the head of a recruit.

My mom rushed over to the door and unlocked it, dad barged in and mom fired off a few shots from her shotgun. I aimed my gun out and fired at another grunt wielding a spear. He went down, but not before his spear flew through the window and grazed my cheek.

I jumped back, dropping my rifle outside and clutched my wounded cheek trying to sustain the blood. My mother ran over to me and pressed a rag against my bleeding cheek.

"Are you okay?" She screeched.

"No, I'm freaking bleeding." I grunted. I was about to stand up, but my mother quickly pushed me back down onto the floor when bullets started flying through the walls. They destroyed our furniture and family photos and before in could even look her in the eye, my mother.

Her brains flew out of her skull and she fell to the floor dead. Dad soon followed when a Molotov cocktail flew through the window and broke open on him. He was instantly engulfed in flames screaming and rolling around in pain for a minute before falling silent.

"DAD!" I screamed, crawling over to his side. I watched his face melt and his features disappear. The door was kicked open. Atlas walked in unharmed from the bullet, his armor was thicker than it looked.

"Well, it appears your father's arrogance and stubborn pride has cost him and his wife their lives." He mused. A light shined in my eyes, his machete was shining the sunlight directly into my eyes. "See where fools pride leads you."

I was enraged, so enraged that I ignored the burning sensation of my father's hot rifle in my hands. I aimed down the sights. My eyes were still blurry from the damn reflective light, but I had his head in sight. He raised his machete and I fired. I heard the sound of metal being struck followed by a loud scream as Atlas fell to the ground. His hands were clutching his left eye and his men were so busy tending to him they didn't see me slip out the back.

I ran as fast as I could, as far as I cold. Before I knew it, it was night time and I had taken refuge in an abandoned farm. When it all started to sink in my hands were stinging just from the exposure to the air and my cheek was sticky with blood. I had some caps on me. I would have to find a doctor soon.

But before that I had to do one thing, I cried.

My whole life was over, there was nothing for me. My parents were gone and I didn't even have a body to bury, or a shovel to dig a hole. My house and farm was gone as was my cattle and money. Those bastards had probably raided my house and took all my clothes and money, so I was officially broke.

I only had my hunting knife, my baseball hat and a pocket full of caps. I was alone, but my life was still ongoing. It was at that point where I had found my crossroad. I could just give up and let either the legion or fiends or any other blood thirsty monster find me, or I could keep walking.

I could just keep walking and walking until death found me, or until my feet gave away. That's when I remember I still had my locket. I pulled it from my neck and opened it. My mother and father stood side by side smiling. Even in this screwed up world, my dad never gave up, and neither would I.

I fastened my hat on my head, drew my knife with my less burned hand and walked. New Vegas was still a couple miles away and the wasteland critters love coming out at night.

(Five years later)

It was another hot one as I walked down the barren wasteland. I was heading over to Goodsprings to see if anyone needed help with well…anything really. I only had about two hundred caps on me and because of my nearsightedness I walked right into a gecko nest so my ammo was pretty scarce.

I wiped a bead of sweat from my cheek and felt the familiar scar on my cheek. It healed, but a thin line was still noticeable. My hands were another story. I kept my fingerless gloves on most of the time so I wouldn't have to see the chapped flesh, way too many bad memories.

I was broken from my thoughts when I heard gunfire from over the hills. I drew my repeater and marched up the hill and kneeled down at the top. Some NCR troops were going at it pretty hard with some Powder Gangers. Not surprised since there were only four rangers and seven gangers, who were armed with explosives no less.

There was this one trooper who was armed with a service rifle taking a couple out one by one. He almost had them, but he was having trouble with the two hiding behind the corner of a rocky slope. I could see one getting ready to light a stick of dynamite. Sparks flew from the fuse as I focused on him, took a deep breath and fired.

I struck the little bastards hand and watched as the small group freaked out before being silenced by the loud explosion. A smug grin was spread across my face as I slid down the hill. I walked over to the last remaining troop and he aimed his rifle at me.

"Whoa, settle down there chief." I warned as I held my hands up in defense. "I'm a friend."

"Sorry," He said before putting his rifle down. "We were scouting the area for Legion troops when we encountered these little bastards. Nice shot by the way."

"Yeah, don't mention it." I said, I stuck out my hand. "I'm Drake." He looked me up and down for a moment before grabbing my hand.

"Noah, Noah Bagby." He introduced. "I am a ranger for the NCR. I mostly work as an enforcer."

"I am a wanderer I work for whoever pays." I said.

"That's it?" He asked. "Seems pointless there's nothing out there but trouble."

"Well I tried the normal life, but then it was all taken from me." I retort, dragging my finger over my scar. I watched as he lit up a cigarette and shook his head.

"Sorry."

"Besides, hiding out in one place and making me a target and holding up in a large building isn't what I call safe." I can see he is starting to get pissed. "Especially since I hear that the Legion is planning on taking the dam."

"It's better than being alone with no place to call home." I narrowed my eyes at him as he loaded a clip into his rifle before walking over to me. "Thanks for the help, but I have to get back to the dam." He stomped off before I stopped him. Something didn't seem right.

"Wait, why the hell are you all the way out here?" I asked. "The damn is about a two day walk back from here. The only things out here are the Powder Gangers and Great Kahns."

"Yes, but we have information that either faction might be allying with the Legion." Noah stated. "We need to be prepared."

"Whatever you say chief, it's been a privilege." I turned to take my leave, before coming face to face with a horde of Legionnaires. The leader who was wearing a fox hat stood before Noah and me.

"Leaving so soon, but we just got to know you."

I was soon struck in the back of my head and everything went black.

'_Hey…'_

A voice echoed around me.

'_Hey…'_

I tried to open my eyes, but they felt so heavy. I heard noises of rock and gravel being stomped on before being kicked in the waist.

I look up and the first thing that I noticed was it was night time. I was no longer in that canyon, but now in a small hallow area. Torches lit the place up as a few legion guards were harassing Noah, who was now covered in blood and had a nasty black eye.

I tried to go help the poor bastard, but soon found myself restrained by a set of ropes. The man above me chuckled.

"You should have just let that mongrel die." The man sneered. "But you petty wanderers can never just mind your own business. Hell, you will do anything for a simple cap wouldn't you, your greed knows no bounds."

"Yeah, just like you and your fucking wrath!" I snapped. That earned me a back hand across the face.

"Soon, you and all you petty vermin will feel the wrath of Caesar and soon you will be saved from you misguided views." He turned to Noah. "And you, you shall feel the heat of the burning sun as we put you to the cross at the crack of dawn."

After spitting on him he and a few of his men left us, leaving two men to guard us. Their backs were turned and they were far enough for us to whisper to one another.

"Are you still breathing?" I asked.

"What do you care?" He spat out blood, not even glancing at me. "If you hadn't gotten me so wound up, I wouldn't have been distracted and taken hostage by these Legion bastards."

"Yeah, instead your remains would be nibbled on by the wasteland critters." I snapped back. "Now look, we may not like each other, but I guarantee neither one of us likes these legion fucks." He let out a heavy sigh and nodded his head.

"You have a plan?"

I looked around at our surroundings and they were not good. Our hands were tied with rope around and fastened to a post. Our weapons were gone along with most of our clothes. I kicked around and felt my razor rub up against my ankle. Those dumb bastards must have forgotten to check my entire person. If I could just reach the damn thing we might have a chance of escaping.

"Psst, hey up here."

I looked up at the edge of the upper wall of the small ditch we were held in and saw a man in his mid-thirties like Noah. His blonde hair shined from the torches and I could make out his grey eyes.

"You guys need a hand?" He asked.

"Michael?" Noah asked. The man gave Noah a puzzled look before looking surprised.

"Noah, holy shit." He whispered as he quietly hopped down. "I ain't seen you since Bitter Springs. How the hell are you?"

"Are you seriously asking that question?" Noah asked rhetorically.

"Right, sorry." He said. "You guys have a knife or something?"

"My left ankle."

He quickly crouched down at my feet and removed the razor from my sock. He flicked the blade out and cut through my binds and did the same for Noah. The three of us stayed low to the ground.

"How the hell did you end up here?" Noah asks.

"Later, for now we take out these little bastards and get the hell out of dodge." Michael said as he handed me back my razor and grabbed a large rock.

We slowly and quietly moved over to the two guards. I looked over at Michael and he mouthed the count down.

'_Three…two…one…go.'_

I reached around the guard's neck and swiftly slit his throat while Michael bashed the others head in with the rock. They only thing they were armed with were machetes and they were the recruit blades.

"Okay, if we're gonna do this we need to be quick and quiet." Michael said. He looked over at me. "What's your name?"

"Drake." I said.

"Nice to meet you." He said. "Okay, we are at the Fort, the Legion's stronghold. I've been here for a couple of days now and I know where the exit is in this place. We just have to go straight through the camp, stick to the shadows and will be fine."

"Easier said than done." Noah said. I handed him a machete while Michael peeked around the corner.

"Don't worry about it. Caesar is giving a bullshit speech at his tent, so there are only a few guards." He reassured us. "Just follow me and do what I say and we'll get out of this. Now, let's go."

We stayed as low to the ground as we could. Michael was right half of the troops were up at Caesar's tent listening to his rants, so the security isn't so tight. We made our way down a small hill and around what looked like an arena.

We were about to make our way out the second wall of this hell hole when we suddenly heard snickering and laughing. We crept around the corner to see a couple of young Legionaries throwing rotten vegetables at a big guy chained to a post with a bag over his head.

"I can't wait to stick this dumb bastard to the cross." The young one snickered as he threw a tomato at the captives head.

"Keep it up you little bastards, you better hope I don't get out or I'll bash your brains in like I did your stupid fucking friends." The man chuckled. My two new found companions were about to leave, but I grabbed Michael's arm.

"We can't leave him." I stated. He gave me a look.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He snaps. "We can slip by without them noticing and we don't even know this guys, he could be a fiend or a raider for all we know."

"Did you hear what they said; this guy kills Legion for fun." I stated. "We could use him to get out."

"Ugh, if we get caught I'll kill you first." Noah grunted. I nodded and we slowly made our way around the arena and behind the recruits.

Noah and I slowly crept behind them and cut their throats. Michael ran over to the captive and pulled off his hood to reveal his messy red hair. He looked at Michael confused for a moment before looking at the dead recruits.

"Huh, they always say recruits don't last a day with the legion." He chuckled. "I don't know you guys, but I owe you one."

"Great we're trying to leave as of now." I explained as Michael cut his restraints.

"Okay, but I am not leaving until I help that girl in the tent over there." He pointed at a small tent over at the top of the hill. Noah let out another grunt.

"Relax, we still have time." I stated. "We need to be quick."

"Don't worry." He said as he picked up a large rock. "This will be fast."

He rushed up the hill and we soon followed him. Before we could come up with a plan he rushed inside. We heard the sounds of struggling before it was drowned out by the sounds of sick cracking.

I looked inside and almost vomited when I saw the man standing over the broken bloodied carcass of a Legion officer. I looked over at the girl who was stripped down to her bra and panties, tears were streaming down her eyes as I walked over to her.

"I rocked his freaking world." He chuckled. I think he was expecting us to laugh, but we didn't pay any attention. I was focused on the girl.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She didn't respond so I had to shake her a little. "Hey, are you okay?"

She looks over at me and nods her head. I slowly help her up to her feet and the man from before comes over with her bag.

"T-That's my satchel." She muttered. "They took my equipment over to their stockpile."

"Do you have any weapons?" I asked.

She reached inside and pulled out a .357 revolver and a couple of grenades. She pointed over at the corner and my eyes widened when I saw a hunting rifle.

"It isn't much, it's just stuff I found and was hoping to sell." She said. I checked the gun and there were only three bullets inside. Michael was examining the rifle as well. It had a full clip, but no additional ammo.

"Well it's better than what we had before." Noah said. "You still any good with that rifle Mike?"

"Like you even have to ask." He chuckled. The red head took the grenades.

"I can handle the explosives." The man said.

I covered her with a blanket and she draped a blanket over herself and grabbed a knife.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"S-Skye Raven." She said.

"I'm Zachary Zana." The red head introduced. "Now let's get the hell out of here."

"Yeah, I'm with this guy." Noah agreed.

We slowly slipped out of the tent and down the hill towards the exit. Two guards were standing in front of the entrance until Noah and Zachary took them down silently. We still had a ways to go from the main compound though.

"Okay, we go down this slope and sneak past those tents and we can steal that boat and get the hell out of here." Michael explained.

"Sounds like a great plan." A familiar voice said from behind us. I turned and saw the same man who knocked me unconscious, followed by a few legion troops. He pointed a 9mm at Michael's head. "Drop you weapons."

I tapped Michael's waist and his eye glanced down at my revolver. He nodded in understanding and dropped to his knees. The man smiled in satisfaction. The smile soon faded when Michael bent down and I quick draw my gun. The tree troops went down and Michael fired his rifle at a few remaining troops.

Zachary threw a grenade towards a small group of troops coming towards us. They were knocked back and crippled by the explosion and we ran like hell, but were soon cut off by another group of legion.

"This way." Skye shouted. We all followed her to the edge of a cliff puzzled as to why she had led us there. "Jump!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I shouted.

She jumped off the cliff and into the water, with no other options Zachary jumped after throwing his last grenade and so did the rest of us. The wind was knocked out of me when I smacked into the water and the swirling around was making me worse. It wasn't long before I lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Scavengers Life **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout New Vegas**

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I was lightheaded, but I was able to make out the faded purple sky of the early morning. I was slowly dragged out of the river and onto dry land by a pair of strong arms. I was set down on my back taking slow deep breaths as Zachary stood over me.

"You okay?" He asked. I nodded feeling soaked to the bone. I was about to get up, but he placed his hand on my shoulder, keeping me down. "Take a minute. We still have time."

"What happened?" I asked.

"We escaped at the seat of our pants that's what happened." Michael snapped. We both looked over at him and watched as he squeezed the water from his socks. "I knew I should have just gone by myself."

"Then why didn't you?" Noah asked. Michael gave him a disgruntled look.

"Morals Noah, we all have a set of morals."

"Look, were all okay right?" Skye asked. "We escaped the Legion and we're free now. Can't we just be glad about our small victory?"

We all took a breath before standing on our feet.

"What weapons do we have?" I asked.

"We lost all of our gear in the escape." Noah said.

"What about caps?"

"I got fifteen caps." Zachary said.

"Eight." Noah muttered embarrassed. "Too much gambling."

"Twelve." Michael said.

"Twenty one." I shrugged.

"I have forty…in my pants…back at the fort." Skye mumbled embarrassed.

"Fifty six caps." I sighed. "Well if we do find a merchant we can probably by some bullets and rent a gun."

"We should head to Goodsprings." Noah said. "It's mostly NCR territory, we'll be safe there."

"Great, which way is it though?" I have never been to this part of the Mojave before. I was so turned around I couldn't even tell which direction would be right or wrong.

"North-west, twenty miles." Skye said. "It will probably be a day's walk."

"How do you know that?" Zachary asked. She held up a wrist mounted computer.

"There was no way I was leaving this there." She said. "My trusty pip-boy has never failed me."

"Great, let's get moving." I flicked my razor out just in case and Zachary grabbed another rock. I gave him a skeptical look, but he shrugged his shoulders at me. Hey he may have been a bit weird, but he was resourceful.

Zachary and I took the lead and Noah lifted Skye on his back and carried her piggy back. I was hoping like hell that the only trouble we would come across was a stray ghoul and a coyote. We weren't prepared for a Legion or any sort of raiding party. I could only hope that we come across a friendly merchant, but we're too deep in Legion territory.

"So how long have you been wandering?" Zachary asks, throwing his rock up and down.

"Since I was twenty, that was five years ago." I said. "I've been wandering around, clipping Legion and anyone else with a price on their head. What about you?"

"Eh, the same." He said. "I used to be a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, but there was a mishap."

"What kind of mishap?"

"I pissed off my former boss on a mission a while back." He scoffed. "Okay, so I blew up a raider camp with a few hundred pounds of our stolen tech, give a guy a break huh?" He asked sarcastically. "Anyways, I was tired of those chuckle heads for a long time and decided to do some good on my own."

"Why did you blow them up?" I asked.

"I…didn't know we were doing a salvage run. I thought it was a sneak attack, but whatever no one tells me anything. What about you, what did you do before traveling?"

This was a difficult subject to bring up. I looked down at my scarred hands. Those bastards could have left me my gloves.

"I was a farmer, with my ma and pa." I started. "We had a good thing going, until the Legion decided it was enough. They burned the farm down, killed my parents and left me with nothing. So, I wander and I will continue to wander till whatever is out there kills me or I disappear like everyone else."

"The definition of a wanderer if I ever heard one." Zachary sighed as we pressed on.

(Noah POV)

Hell of a week this was turning out to be. I do a favor for a friend and I end up in a fucking Legion camp. Then I narrowly escape death with a handful of misfits. At least I have Michael with me. He was the best sniper in the NCR. He wasn't the same after Bitter Springs.

"So, how have you been there Michael?" I asked.

"Well Noah, aside from the nightmares of slaughtering innocent people and the blood on my hands. I am very well buddy." Michael replied snidely. "How about you?"

"Had better days." Noah snickered. "You still have nightmares too?"

"Every night, it was a very bad time at Bitter Springs." Michael sighed.

"I'm new around here, what's Bitter Springs?" Skye asked from over my shoulder.

"You're not from around here?" Michael asked.

"No, I was stationed out in the Capital Wasteland." She said. This surprised both me and Michael. The Capital was a stone's throw away.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"It took some time. I've been here for about a year. It took me a couple months to get here."

"Why did you leave?" I asked.

"I wanted to do more in life." She said. I could feel her looking around. "I was proud to be a part of the brotherhood of steel, but it just got…boring."

"Boring, how could it be boring?" I asked. Being an NCR ranger meant I was on constant surveillance for Legion, so I was never bored. This girl's sole purpose is to protect the people from super mutants and she calls it boring. She must have been crazy to quit.

"It was just…I hated being stuck in the same run down ruins of the capital only to be confided in our iron fortress at the end of the day. I wanted to see life in the settlements, see how people really lived."

"And you wounded up in the Legion's camp, great job." Michael snapped.

"Settle down Mike."

"No, I went to New Vegas, I didn't like it. It was too loud, too greedy and filled with all sorts of filth." She said in disgust. "I left after only a few days and afterwards made it to Nipton only to be captured by the Legion. I didn't make it to the fort until yesterday."

"Nipton, didn't you get any Intel before going?" I snapped. "That place is nothing but a gambling, whore mongering cesspit."

"Was a cesspit." She muttered. "The place was burned down by the Legion, everyone is dead."

"What/Shit!" Mike and I exclaimed. We didn't know that the Legion had made it this far out west, now they were invading small settlements.

"This war is going to get ugly isn't it?" Mike sighed.

"Yup, kid let me tell you something about this war." I sighed. "Me and this guy over here, we were a part of the NCR's 1st recon group and we were sent to take down some Great Khan raiders. We managed to track them down at a small dead-end settlement called Bitter Springs. Our superior gave us simple orders to go in and fire until our clips are empty."

"The only problem was it wasn't the Khans hideout or drug manufacturing station it was their damn settlement." Mike snarled. "There were no killers and thieves, only women, children and elders and when we weren't gunning them down in their homes we were gunning them down in the escape path in coyote tail."

"It was an escape route." I told her. "After a few minutes of mindless slaughter my captain Dhatri managed to at least save a few khans and sent them on their way. Afterwards, a lot of soldiers, including Mike over there quit."

"Geez, you guys seemed to have made the same mistakes as I have. You blundered into a town without the proper Intel." Skye said.

"Yeah, it wasn't a proud moment for any of us." I sighed.

"Hey guys, there's a station up ahead." Drake said from up front.

"Okay." I called up ahead. "Let's hope they got something for us."

(Drake's POV)

We all decided that Zachary and I would go up first and investigate. Places like these were settlements for merchants, thieves or radscorpions. The place was a simple gas station a garage on the left for two cars, gas pumps and a small station. Zachary checked the garage while I checked the station.

I was two steps near the door before being tackled to the ground by a ghoul. It snarled and slobbered all over me as I struggled to pry it off. A rock struck the side of its head and weakened its hold on me allowing me to stab my razor into the side of its temple. It let out a dying growl before falling to the ground dead.

I pushed the foul smelling bastard off of me and held back the bile that crept up my throat. These things were disgusting.

"Hey, it's all clear!" Zachary shouted out to the rest of the group. He held his hand out to me. "You need a hand?" I rolled my eyes at his pun as he helped me up.

"Thanks." I grunted as the other three come up to us. "Okay, we should do a rundown of the place."

"Why don't you and I check the garage?" Zachary suggested. I could agree to that. "You three could check the station out."

"Sounds good." Noah said, putting down Skye.

The three of them walked into the station while Zachary and I checked out the garage. There wasn't much to be found, just some scrap and about ten bottle caps, including the ones I got off that ghoul. Zachary found a sledge hammer so he was happy as a pig in shit. We went inside the station to see Michael examining a repeater and Skye was now dressed in a pair of black pants and a matching vest.

"Looks like you guys found some things worthwhile." I chuckled.

"There's a safe behind the counter on the floor, but none of us can crack it." Noah said as he stomped down on the door frustrated. I move over to the small safe. It was a cheap one, very easy to break into. After a little tinkering we found a great pay load.

A 9mm, a combat knife, a sawed off shotgun and a box full of caps marked with the number, 200. There were also bullets for the guns and I handed them to Mike and gave Noah the sawed off shotgun and the shells.

"Great, better than what we had a few hours ago." Mike said. "We also found these." He hands me a box of sugar bombs and a bottle of water. I quickly yanked the water out of his hands and chugged the water down. I let out a heavy sigh after finishing every drop.

"Damn, that is the best feeling in the world." I chuckled.

"What, rehydration?" Skye joked.

"No, finding what you need in your most desperate hours." I tear open the cereal and start eating before sharing the wealth. "A scavenger's finest moment."

We spent the next hour resting and talking about our past. How Skye wanted more than an army life and Michael quitting the NCR. Zachary even found a bottle of whiskey and shared it with us, though he had more than us, we didn't mind.

"We should probably get going now." Noah said. "We only have a few hours left of sunlight."

I loaded my new 9mm and Noah and Michael readied their guns as well. When we stepped out we were surrounded by a group of Fiends.

"Hey, what are you little bastards doing going through our shit?" The leader snapped.

"Stealing it obviously." I snickered. They had their guns trained on us and we had our holstered. That's when I got an idea.

"You little shits are fucking dead!" The leader shouted as he aimed his varmint rifle at us. We all raised are hands.

"Okay, we surrender." I snapped. Mike looked at me in disgust.

"What the hell Drake?" He snapped. I gave him a reassuring look.

"Mike, do you remember what happened with those Legion bastards?" I asked. I could see the pieces coming together in his head. He nodded and dropped to his knees.

"All right, we surrender."

He quickly dropped down to the ground and I once again quick draw my handgun. Noah pulled out his sawed off shotgun and gunned down two of the remaining Fiends. The last one tried to run away, but Mike picked him off with his repeater.

"Huh, that was easier than I thought." Mike said.

"They're Fiends." I stated. "They act crazy, but that doesn't mean they are organized. These twitching bastards are only threatening when it's five against one."

Zachary came back with a Varmint rifle for Skye, a caravan shotgun for himself and a silenced .22SMG for Noah. Skye was happy to finally be able to have a gun, though they were in poor condition.

"These guns are kind of weak." She muttered in a disappointed tone.

"Yeah, Fiends were never known for keeping their guns in top shape." Zachary stated. "Especially these ones, my guess is they were banned from Vault 3 from consumption of their products."

"I'm surprised they let them live." Noah said. "My Captain told me that they kill traitors like these."

"Oh, I didn't say they let them go, they probably ran like hell while getting shot at." Zachary chuckled.

"Okay, let's get going. These guys don't have anything of value. Just some pool cues and a hatchet." Which I had just sheathed on my belt.

"I thought these guys had cool tech." Skye said as she walked next to me.

"Like Zack had said earlier, they must have been kicked out of Vault 3. So now, like us they were probably scrapping by with whatever they had."

"Makes sense, I just what a real gun again, not this rusted piece of crap." She grunted.

"Don't worry kid. They got to have something for us at Goodsprings." I chuckled.

"I can't wait to have enough money to get some of the top shelf goods from the Gunrunners." Zack grinned. He wasn't wrong they had the best gear in all the wasteland, but they were just giving them away. It cost nearly two thousand caps for a rifle of Skye's caliber.

"There it is." Noah exclaimed.

I looked up at water tower and the noticeable windmill in the distance and smiled. Goodsprings may not have been a big hustle and bustle city, but it did well for fellow travelers. The five of us ran towards the small settlement, eager to get some good food and to be surrounded by good people once again. We wouldn't be leaving till morning as the sun had set by the time we had gotten there. We could all use a good night's sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Forming a Team**

**Authors Note: Great reviews everyone and thank you for your favorites. I hope you continue to add your support. This one is more of a filler chapter so take it however you will.**

**Disclaimer: I do not Fallout.**

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(Drake's POV)

"Trudy, another round of shots." I called out to the bar keep. Trudy, the barkeep and the toughest woman in town, supplied us with our shots of whiskey. We had spent our money and sold what little supplies we had for some improved gear. Noah had gotten himself a handgun along with a service rifle to replace the one he had swiped off of the Fiends.

Zachary and Skye had bought themselves a few frag grenades and Mike modified his repeater. As for me, I gave my handgun to Skye and replaced it with a 9mm SMG with a drum clip. This little puppy can carry more bullets and a single shotgun.

I would be ready to set out for Primm tomorrow morning but for now I would relax. I didn't know what everyone else would do though, so I asked.

"So, what will you guys do now that we're free?" I got a few weary looks. Zachary looked at me and raised his glass.

"I'll stick with you if you don't mind?" He said.

"Yeah sure, two guns are better than one."

"I ain't got nothing going on." Mike shrugged. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Sure, Skye are you in?"

She looked away shyly before looking back at me and nodding. All that was left was Noah, though I wasn't holding my breath. He didn't say anything and just exited the bar. I shrugged my shoulders and looked over at the group.

"So, if we are going to be doing this, we need a job that will pay us well." I said looking for leads. "Any ideas?"

"We could try security work?" Mike suggested. Zachary let out a snort and Mike glared at him. "What?"

"Those jobs are boring and they pay shit." He grunted before downing his fifth shot. "What pays real money, is private jobs." He had us all intrigued. "There is always someone out there who needs desperate fools like us to go out and venture places that are too rough for them to go. So we hire ourselves out to them and they pay real money."

"Yeah but those high paying jobs mean dangerous work right?" Skye interjected. "Jobs like invading enemy territory, or hunting down officers of an enemy faction or even killing deathclaws."

"Yeah, but jobs like those pay big caps." Zachary grinned.

"I don't know…" Skye still looked uneasy. I can't say that I blame her. Her last time adventuring almost cost her, her freedom and her innocence. That's when it hit me.

"Skye," She looks over at me. "Last night we escaped a Legion strong hold and bested their best officers with nothing but a razor and some rocks and what little guns we had and they weren't much." I could see her attitude changing and her eyes had that same fire I had when I was her age. "We got out of that together and we made it here together. Now, we have weapons and we have each other. We can take on whatever the Mojave throws at us, got it?"

She nodded her head and smiled.

"Okay, now jobs…" Trudy overheard our conversation and chipped in.

"Drake, if you are interested, the Courier that passed through here might be able to get you some work. He said he was heading over to The Strip to get even on that checkered suit prick that broke my radio and shot at him."

"This Courier, does he have any caps?" I asked.

"No, he didn't even have a shirt until the good doctor helped him out."

"Then it's not worth our time." Zachary stated.

"How about taking care of them fiends?" Noah said as he entered the bar. "Three fiends then we take care of the rest of them in the vault. We'll make two thousand caps off of them, plus an extra two fifty each if we deliver the heads of each leader."

We all looked at each other with that gleam of greed and satisfaction in our eyes. We all agreed to it and paid Trudy her money before settling in for the night. The folks have let us use one of their halfway houses.

Since we were all gentlemen we let Skye have the one bed while the rest of us took the living room. I settled on the love seat while Mike leaned against the cushion. Noah took to lying down on the couch and Zachary took the love seat with his feet propped on the coffee table. I looked over at Noah and I could tell he wasn't sleeping.

"So, what made you come back?" I asked. He remained silent for a short while, so I didn't bother to press on.

"I wanted to see what life would be like as a traveler, but I was too scared." He finally said. He pointed at the scar under his chin. "This scar here, I got this from a lucky encounter with a deathclaw."

"A lucky encounter with a death claw, such a thing exists?" I asked.

"It is if it swipes its claws at you and you come out of it with only a scar." He chuckled. "After that I didn't want to risk going out into the open waste. So I just stayed with the NCR and have been there ever since."

"So now you wanted a change?" I asked.

"Yes, I want to see what's beyond that wall of hoover dam. I'll see you in the morning." He shifted into his couch cushion and went to sleep for the night.

We set out early the next morning. We wanted to cross the open wasteland as the critters settled in for the morning. The only things we encountered were a few geckos so we didn't ration our ammo too bad and we could make a killing on the skins. I was skinning my fifth gecko when Skye approached me.

"So, why are we going through Primm and Novac just to get to the outskirts of New Vegas?" Skye asked.

"Because it's a safer route." I explained.

"But it will cost us too much ammo and supplies." She explained. "What we should have done was just head straight to new Vegas from Good springs."

"That's a short trail sure, but far too risky." Zachary said. "There are too many critters not to mention all of the death claws as well."

"Death claws are crawling all over those planes." Mike said as he picked off another Gecko with his repeater. "They nest out in dark caves and mineshafts. They don't like the sunlight too much, but that doesn't stop them from coming up for some meat."

"So this trail works best for us." I said as I moved over to the Gecko Mike just shot and prepared to skin him.

"I didn't think of it like that." She admitted sheepishly.

"Don't worry, well teach you the fundamentals." Noah said. She nodded before looking around cautiously.

"Speaking of which, since we're a team shouldn't we discuss our roles?"

"Our roles?" Zachary asked.

"Yeah, we carry a lot of guns, but we need someone to hold our ammo. Then there's our funds, who's going to keep track of what we buy and what we sell and how much we make?"

"Hmm, she's right we haven't had a chance to figure out our place on the team."

"I was a demolitionist in the brotherhood, I can handle the explosives." Zachary said.

"I can be our munitions master." Noah said. "Just don't give me anything to heavy. I'll hold our spare clips."

"I'll hold the meds." Mike stated.

"I'll take care of our salvage and any bits and bobs we come across." I stated. "What about you Skye?"

"I'll handle our funds of course. My Pip-Boy will be a major help to that." She pressed a few buttons on her Pip-Boy. "We'll be fine."

"Okay, let's get back on track then." Zachary said as we all made our way to Primm.

It took us another hour and a half but we finally made it to Primm. The town itself was worked over pretty good by the Powder Gangers, but this supposed Courier helped saved Primm and even managed to find them a new sheriff."

It was late in the afternoon so we decided to take a break. Noah and Mike headed over to the NCR station outside of Primm just to shoot the shit with the guards. Zachary decided to head over to the Bison Hotel, which was still closed due to the attack, but he said he needed to get something. He also gave me his caravan shotgun and asked if I could get him a laser rifle from the shop.

I sold our skins and a few trinkets along with my single shotgun. With the laser rifle we were back down to two hundred caps. I went over to the casino and collected the boy's. Turns out no drinks were being served because of the restoration of Primm.

We all stood outside waiting for Zachary.

(Zachary's POV)

As I made my way through the now abandoned hotel, I took note of this Couriers handy work. I don't know what kind of guns he was packing, but he went to town on all of these little bastards.

I had finally made my way to the small department store. Behind the register was a floor safe and after a little tinkering he cracked it open. A few years back my C.O had stashed his favorite .357 revolver in the safe after winning it at a poker game over at the casino.

He died of a heart attack a month later and left it to me. Well, at least now he did. I reached inside of the safe and pulled out the black custom made revolver with the white handle and the clove in the center.

"Thing of beauty." I chuckled as I twirled the barrel around. This was the best gun a guy could ask for. I slid the gun in my holster and grabbed the small box of caps labeled six hundred. I would get the guys a room in Novac for tonight.

I made my way outside and saw my crew waiting impatiently. Drake looked over at me with a disgruntled look on his face and a laser rifle over his shoulder.

"It's about time." He tossed me the rifle I caught it with one hand. "Seriously what the hell man?"

"My former boss left a long term deposit in the hotel." I pull out a handful of caps. "I think we'll be able to afford a room tonight." I looked over at Skye. "This is six hundred caps."

She typed a few things in her Pip-boy before nodding at me.

"Okay, let's get to Novac before dark." Drake said.

I noticed Drake had bought a bandolier for his shotgun rounds. I guess the shotgun was his preferred weapon of choice. We made our way to Primm Pass. The sun was setting and dusk was upon us. We made our way through the rocky pass and every couple of minutes I would hear a tumble of rocks and the pitter patter of feet shuffling through the rocks and dirt.

Mike and Noah heard it too as their shoulders would tense ever couple of seconds. Drake had his shotgun at the ready as well. We are about to be attacked, and I know who they are.

Vipers, those crazed cultist fucks are clever bastards. They attack at night with poisoned blades and silenced guns. Drake stopped us and right then and there. We were about to be attack. He looked over at Mike and nodded. Mike nodded back.

I looked over at Skye and she bolted towards Noah. Panic flooded my veins when she tackled him out of the way of an oncoming spear. When the spear impacted the ground, Mike followed the direction from where it came from and aimed his repeater up on the cliff and blew the viper's brains out.

I looked up and saw a couple of more Vipers perched on the cliff. They were armed with a couple of 10mm SMG's and pistols. Drake pulled out his 9mm SMG and open fired on them. I fired my laser rifle at them too.

He managed to clip one in the head and I vaporized the other. I looked over at Skye who was in a knife fight with the other Viper. I was about to help her, but what our new friend didn't realize and what I had forgotten was that she was a member of the brotherhood of steel.

She ducked under his knife, kicked his legs out from under him and after he had fell on his ass she stabbed him in the center of his chest. She looked over at me and she smiled and gave me a thumb up.

Noah blew the last ones brains out and we were all left standing.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Skye asked.

"Vipers." Noah snarled. He grabbed one of the fallen Viper's 10mm pistol and pocketed it. We snagged a few more of their gear as well. "They attack travelers at the dead of night."

"Dead of night, I can still see the sun on the horizon." Drake snapped.

"This war must be making everyone desperate." Mike said as he handed a few clips to Noah.

"Okay, we need to get to Novac soon. Then we can figure out our plans on taking out the Fiends for good." Noah said.

I couldn't agree more. We needed a well laid out plan if we were going to take out the Fiends. I looked back at the Vipers and realized how easy we managed to take them down. I have been with the brotherhood for a long time and this is the first time I had real faith in a group of strangers.

I have a feeling we could do some real good for the wasteland and I would see to it that we would uphold justice.

At the right price of course.


	4. Chapter 4: Heads Up

**Chapter 4: Heads Up**

**Authors Note: Okay, I like your characters guys really, but it is getting hard for me to write a good story when you keep asking me to change their personality or their back story. I aim to please, but guys I can't keep tweaking these characters. Stick to your original script. Also, this is sort of the last intro chapter for the group. Next time they start taking on contracts, so if you have any ideas for your characters please inform me. Okay, here we go.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout.**

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Noah and Michael scouted ahead of the group. Their night in Novac was nice and relaxing and just what they needed for the day. If they kept their heads both literally and mentally, they could get this done by the end of the day.

Noah looked through his binoculars and caught the sight of their first mark. Violate, this crazy dark skinned bitch breeds her own dogs and they eat what she kills which is mostly man flesh.

This psycho bitch may be the weakest of the bunch, but she is the most vicious. She once chewed a man's ear off and fed the rest of him to her dogs. He screamed for hours before she finally put a knife to the poor bastard's skull. Noah looked back at his team.

"Okay, she is stationed on top of the middle trailer in the old trailer park." Noah explained. "She is alone aside from her dogs. So…any volunteers on who is going to bait the bastards?" He chuckled sarcastically.

"I'll do it." Zachary said as he readied his laser rifle. "I'll get every one of those little bastards."

"You won't get close she has a hunting rifle." Noah said. He pointed to her lookout. "Besides I was joking. She would clip you in the leg and let her wild dogs eat you."

"And our guns can't reach her," Mike stated. "A repeater and a varmint rifle are decent, but they don't pack much of a punch."

"So lay down suppressing fire." Noah said. "You two open fire on her on my mark and the three off us," He pointed at Zachary and Drake. "We'll take out those little bastard dogs when they show their toothy grins."

"Wait." Mike said as he pulled off his bag and started rummaging through it. He let out a small chuckle and tossed Noah a couple of blood packs. "These things feed off of human flesh so they'll know blood. They will come running like bats out of hell."

"Okay, let's get started."

Noah led his group while Mike and Skye took point behind an abandoned truck. Noah ripped open the bags and he moved towards the trailers and threw the packs. The dogs scurried out like mad men as Noah picked them off with his service rifle. Zachary fired turned them to ash with his laser rifle and Drake rained down on them with his 9mm SMG.

Violet aimed her rifle right at Noah, who was too busy reloading to notice. She had his head in her sights until a bullet whipped past her head and grazed her ear. She was taken aback by the pain and fell off her outpost. Violet staggered to her feet and took a shot at Drake, but he quickly ducked behind a nearby trailer before she could hit him. He quickly whipped out his caravan shot gun and fired a round into her chest.

He was ready to collect her head, but another dog jumped on him. It slobbered on his face and clawed at his shoulders and chest. He held it back with his shotgun before a bullet whipped through the side of his head.

Drake looked over and his left and saw Skye pointing her varmint rifle at the dog. Drake gave her the thumbs up and pushed the dog off of him. He loaded two shells into his gun and approached Violet who was lying on the ground coughing up blood. Noah and Mike stood over her with the look of vengeance across their faces.

"You killed a lot of innocent people to get the rep you have." Noah snarled. He raised his boot and brought it down on her wounded chest. She let out a gurgled cry as Mike kicked the side of her ribs.

"And you fed on a lot of our friends too you fucking psycho!" He raised the butt of his rifle and was ready to crush her head until Drake stopped him.

"We got her we don't need to be like her." He stated. "Besides if you crush her head we lose half of our caps." Mike lowered his rifle and drew his knife.

"You're right." He brought the knife down and stabbed the center of her chest. She let out one last chocked gasp before her entire body went limp. Skye looked away as Mike sawed her head off with the serrated side of his knife.

Drake held open a plastic bag and tied it up good before stuffing it in his back.

"Okay, one down and two to go." He chuckled. "Who's next?"

"A brutal son of a bitch by the name of Cook-cook." Noah said. "He's a pyromaniac a rapist and a drug dealer. He's pretty close by so he might be on his guard, but he has a weakness. His pet Brahmin Queenie. Take her out and that crazy bastard will lose his shit and go berserk."

"Are you sure that's what we want?" Zachary asked while loading Lucky. "For a pyromaniac to lose his mind while wielding an incinerator?"

"Sure, he'll be so broken over that fucking cow he'll just kill anyone to make himself feel better. His men included." Noah smirked.

"All for a cow?" Skye asked in disbelief.

"He doesn't get along with people." Mike shrugged. He picked up Violet's discarded rifle and tossed it to her. "He keeps her in a corral. You should be able to hit it and kill it with it from a safe distance. Can you do it?"

She looked at him before pulling back the bolt, loading a bullet into the chamber. "Can I do it?" She mocked as she ran off in the direction of Cook-Cook's hide out. Drake reassured him with a pat on his back and ran after her.

The team had made it to the outskirts of Cook-Cook's hideout. Skye took point and kept low to the ground. She had caught sight of the Brahmin Queenie. The name like Violet was a bit off putting, but Queenie was defiantly no prize. It was a big fat short tempered slob that bit the hand of a poor girl that was only trying to feed her.

A sadistic grin spread across her face when she pulled the trigger and watched that mutated freaks brains splatter all over the place. The girl not knowing what had happened decided to take off before the shit hit the fan.

Noah and the rest of the gang had joined up with Skye and were awaiting their results. They saw Cook-cook cladded in his metal armor and welding mask stand over his dead Brahmin like a statue. He remained like that for a few minutes before one of his men cautiously tapped him on the shoulder.

He was just trying to help him and his reward was a hammer upside his head. His men let out a few surprised shrieks as Cook-cook quickly grabbed his incinerator and emptied a barrage of fire balls at his own men.

"That's our cue." Noah quipped. Everyone readied their weapons and attacked Cook-cook's hideout.

Zachary aimed his laser rifle at a fiend and turned him to ash, but when he was vaporized two more Fiend's popped out from cover aiming their laser rcw's. Red bolts rained down on the small crew.

They all took cover behind an aging wall which was tearing down with every shot. It wouldn't be long before they managed to land a hit. The two fiends rained fire before their ECP's ran dry. They tried to reload as fast as they could but Noah and Mike were a team once so this was child's play. They both poked out of the sides of their cover and opened fired on them, killing them instantly.

Cook-Cook who was still crying over Queenie, ran towards the group screaming as he let out a barrage of fire balls at the team. Drake fired his shot gun at him, but they bounced off of his metal armor. In his blind rage he forgot to load his incinerator but it didn't stop him from throwing it at him. The large weapon struck Drake and knocked him onto the ground.

Cook went in to attack him when Noah drew his knife and stabbed him in his lower back between the metal plates. Cook-Cook let out a staggered cry before choking on his own blood and falling dead. Noah decapitated him as we did Violet and bagged him before tossing it to Drake.

"Well that was strange." Drake said in an uneasy voice. "All this for a fucking steer?"

"Hey the guy's hobbies were burning things and drugs." Mike said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he had thought of a rad scorpion as a son and a deathclaw for a wife."

"What a sad and pathetic excuse for a man." Zachary grunted. "We must make haste to Driver Nephi's known location before he makes it back to Vault 3."

"Where was he last seen?" Drake asked.

"He was seen dealing drugs with the Khans near an abandoned building, north of the Samson rock crushing plant and South of South Ruins East Entrance." Noah explained. Everyone was looking around confused as if they were trying to find the right direction. Noah was looking at them skeptically. "What the hell are you guys doing?"

"I'm trying to find the rock crushing plant." Drake said.

"I'm trying to find north." Mike said.

"I'm following the sun to find South-East." Zachary said.

"I'm putting in the coordinates on my Pip-Boy." Skye quipped. Everyone looked at her astounded. Skye looked up and pointed North-East. "It's that way."

"Fuck your toy." Noah grunted as the team made their way to their final target. Zachary grabbed Cook-cook's incinerator and reloaded it. After a few minutes of scavenging they made their way to Driver's hideout.

Dusk was soon upon them when they had made it to the outskirts of the abandoned building. They were sitting around a barrel of fire, sticking and themselves full of psycho. Skye counted six Fiends plus Driver.

Noah had explained to his group that Driver was the most vicious of the group. He had earned the name Driver bludgeoning a group of NCR troops to death with nothing but a nine iron. He was as vicious as they come and to top it all off his guards were armed with laser RCW's.

The group was running low on ammo for their primary weapons so it wouldn't be long before they would have to use their secondary weapons. Skye had her sights trained on a Fiend who was perched on the top of a corner wall.

His head was blown off and the entire Fiend's scurried like rats. They hid behind cover and fired on the group, who also let out a few blind shot. Skye and Mike had run out of bullets. Mike switched to his 10mm handgun and Skye went back to her varmint rifle.

As much as it disappointed Zachary, he knew couldn't use his incinerator without risking the damage of Driver's head so he stuck with his laser rifle. Noah had a clip left for his Carbine and Drake had four shells left for his shotgun.

Bullets and laser bolts flew left and right. Drake fired his last shell into the chest of one of the Fiend's. He flew back into a pile of rubble dead. Noah planted his last round right between a Fiends skull, but not before getting burned in his left shoulder by that Fiend's last shot from his energy weapon.

Noah fell right before Driver. Panic flooded his veins when he caught sight of his iron raised above his head ready to strike down Noah. Driver brought his iron down halfway before being tackled to the ground by Drake.

Noah looked over at the two scuffling on the ground. Another Fiend runs up behind Drake with a knife in hand ready to kill him. Noah drew his handgun and fired. The Fiend fell back clutching his throat as the blood splattered out. He fell dead leaving Driver the last one standing.

Driver was currently crushing Drake's windpipe with the shaft of his iron. Drake was scratching at his left ankle trying to grab his razor. The second his hand grabbed the handle he ripped it out of his sock and swiped it across Driver's throat.

Driver loosened his grip on his club and started to stagger away. He wrapped his hands around his throat in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. Zachary walked over to him, pressed Lucky into the center of his chest and ended the day with Driver's heart splattered on the walls.

Everyone gathered around and smiled at one another. Drake drew his knife and severed his third and last head.

Dhatri was looking over the heads and the driver as Noah stood before him. Camp McCarran provided Noah and his friends with dinner and bed for their hard work against the Fiends. Noah and Dhatri were eating together in his tent counting his caps while Dhatri examined the driver.

"Well, well, well. Driver Nephi. Nothing to say, you son of a bitch? No tips on my golf swing?" He chuckled as he swung the club as if he were golfing. "I gotta say you sure as hell surprised me when I saw you with those mercs today."

"Well I figured I needed a change of pace." He said.

"You know that that's AWOL right?" He said while sitting back down. Noah gave him a disgruntled look.

"Technically I was declared KIA when I was ambushed by the Powder Gangers." He leaned in and gave him a cold hearted stare. "So don't ever think I would abandon the NCR at the drop of a hat."

"Settle down, I paid you for a job well done and as long as you don't go breaking any laws you and your crew will be fine."

"It's not my crew it's Drakes." Noah said. Dhatri looked at him as if he were crazy.

"The kid, why him?"

"Eh, he has his potential. Besides, he's the one who helped us make it this far." Noah explained. He had grown a partnership with Drake he hasn't had with any of his troops in years. "I'm actually starting to think I could get used to this life." Dhatri just smiled.

"You've changed since Bitter Springs."

"Yeah, speaking of which how is my little brother?" He asked.

"He's fine, that nightmare at Bitter Springs is nothing to him." He chuckled. "He said he wants to be just like you."

"He'll be better than me."

(!)

The next morning the group set out for their next destination, the gun runners.

They sold everything they had raided from the Fiends. The Incinerator and the laser RCW's and all the additional ammo.

Drake had bought himself a black duster and a second bandolier which he wore under his black duster. He had also bought a pair of black shades and a cowboy hat. As for weapons he bought a bowie knife, a .45 pistol and a riot shotgun.

Noah had gotten himself advanced combat armor Mk. II with the NCR colors painted on. He kept his sawed off and had it holstered onto his lower back. He then bought a Marksman carbine, two 10mm pistols and a bowie knife as well.

Mike had just kept his list short with a carbine as well and a .44 magnum. All was covered by his bounty hunter coat, but no hat. He didn't want to ruin his hair.

Zachary had taken a huge bite out of their funds, but thanks to their weapons and armor they would easily make it all back.

He bought himself brotherhood power armor and his own pip-boy which he had grafted to his suit's left sleeve. He left the helmet and just bought a pair of authority glasses. A smile spread across his face when he got his hands on a multiplas rifle. Everyone was a little weary near him when he got his hands on assorted grenades.

Everyone couldn't keep their eyes off Skye when she was fitted into her recon armor. Then they frowned when she wrapped a trench coat around herself. They were soon surprised when she bought herself an anti-material rifle with a suppressor, two 10mm pistols. She had one with a suppressor and a combat knife and three grenades on her belt.

When asked about why she had a suppressor for one of them she said _'It is because the silencer helps to take down targets quietly when the situation require me to do so, but in a fire fight the noise can help to warn my enemies to take cover or scare them away, a silencer can't do that.'_

Drake looked over his crew and smiled, the Mojave Wasteland wouldn't know what was coming.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: One step into hell**

**Authors Note: Thank you all for you reviews. I enjoy your feedback and support towards my story and the respected characters. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout New Vegas.**

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Freeside was not as clean and stable as the Strip of New Vegas. Its inhabitants consisted of the Followers of the Apocalypse, who wanted nothing more than to help those who needed it. They were highly respected in Freeside. The Kings are a gang that overlook and secure the peace as best they can in Freeside. The Van Graff family, are dealers in energy weapons and are the shadiest of the bunch. The Misfits just try and stay away from them, unless Zachary needs some bits and bobs for his new weapon he's been working on.

The Atomic Wrangler was another story all together.

Skye and Mike were blowing their caps on the tables. After losing most of their caps before finally breaking even they decided to call it quits. They left the player room and went to the main room to find Noah and Drake. Mike looked over at the bar and spotted Noah finishing off a bottle of whiskey. The two walked up behind Noah, Mike smacked him in the back, making him spill his drink. Noah looked at Mike with an unpleasant look.

"What have you been doing?" Mike asked as he and Skye sat next to him.

"Killing as many brain cells as I could." He chuckled. "What about you?"

"Just finished blowing our caps on tables," Skye looked around the ratty club. "Where's Drake?"

Noah pointed his glass over at the staircase. Skye saw Drake stepping down the stairs while fixing his shirt and straightening his coat. Noah stared at him with a blank expression.

"Where the hell have you been?" He asked. "You said you were going to find us some work."

"I did and it turns out there isn't any." Drake said optimistically. Skye looked at her pip-boy and was confused since that happened over an hour ago.

"It took you an hour and a half to figure that out?" Skye asked.

"No and it certainly didn't cost me one hundred and fifty caps." He said with the look of shame across his face. "Anyways, um Noah, do you have any leads for work?"

"Yes, a girl came in asking us to find her friend in vault 22." He said as the group had left the bar and into the streets of Freeside. "She is a scientist at camp McCarran. Angela Williams, she wants us to find a ghoul by the name of Keely."

"An NCR doctor is paying us to find a ghoul?" Mike chuckled. "What is she a slave?"

"No a helper or something." Noah chuckled. "I know I was as surprised as you guys. I guess she has a heart of gold."

"So what do we need to know about the vault that is so dangerous?" Drake asked.

"Only that anyone who goes out in that area has never been seen again." Noah stated.

"My money is on the cazador's." Skye mentions as she punches in the coordinates on her pip-boy. "That far west is buzzing with those big poisonous bastards."

"How much for the job?" Mike asked.

"800 caps." Noah said, "It is a simple job, plus who knows what else we'll find at the vault."

"We'll we haven't had any real work that paid cash like this." Skye said. "All we've had were simple guard duty jobs around freeside and jobs fit for a courier. It's your call Drake."

"Let's do it." Drake said as he unlocked the door to their building. "It'll be nice to actually get our hands dirty."

"That's the spirit." Mike said as he followed his friends into their headquarters.

The king's used this place a as one of their flop houses before the misfits came in and offered them a slice of their profit. It was a mutual relationship. They pay them caps and they can use their place. They would need to find their own place soon, but it needed to be fortified. It couldn't be some shack out in the desert or in a small town like good springs or Primm. The damn NCR and Legion were making it hard for mercs to set up shop anywhere.

They found Zachary tinkering away at something at his little workstation. He looked over at us.

"We got work?" He asked.

"Vault 22." Drake said.

Zack nodded and picked up a flamethrower and a few incarnating grenades. Drake rolled his eyes and grabbed his riot shotgun and some food and water. Skye grabbed her anti-material rifle and a lunchbox full of caps. Mike stacked up on meds and Noah grabbed some additional ammo. After doing a complete check on their equipment they all made their way outside of new Vegas and North West to Vault 22.

There were two problems when it came to going north. One was the cazadors, they liked the open planes since it had the most food of wasteland critters and such. They also traveled in packs and if you got swarmed it was over for you. The other problem was the rumors surrounding Vault 22.

Noah had told the group that any merc who had ventured to Vault 22 had never returned. As they walked Skye was curious and asked Noah.

"How do you know how dangerous it is, have you been there?" She asked.

"No, I mean we sent scouts and such, but we never actually made our way inside." He explained. "There were too many rumors surrounding the place." He cleared his throat. "One night, me and some friends stopped at Boulder City on our way back to base, and while we were there this guy busted in through the doors looking like hell. When we asked he was traumatized, said that the plants started to come to life and ate his damn friends."

"Shit and we're going in there?" Skye asked, her stomach started to twist and turn in panic. She jumped when she felt Drake's arm wrap around her shoulder.

"Hey don't worry about it." He reassured. "We're packing serious fire power, Zack has fire power and Mike is carrying a few fire based ammo on him. We'll be in and out before nightfall."

Skye smiled and nodded. "Okay." Drake tapped her shoulder and pointed towards an open plane. She squinted and noticed three cazadors buzzing around a dead Brahmin. Skye pulled out her rifle, kneeled down and took her aim. In a few seconds all three cazadors were torn apart by her rifle, each one had their head blown off.

"Great shooting kid." Zachary chuckled as he walked past her. "Bitches love cannons."

"Hey!" She snapped as she changed her clip.

Everyone else ran on ahead. They took out a few Cazadors along the way ran into a warehouse that was a thieve hideout. Drake tried to move past them, but they were fired upon before they could even make it past them.

Skye picked off a few with her rifle and Drake and Zack took out a few of them from the inside with their short ranged weapons. The rest tried to flee, but Mike and Noah picked them off with little effort.

"Well that was productive." Drake said as he picked up a 9mm pistol sitting on an end table along with a box of bullets. He threw the bullets at Mike who threw a few boxes of cram at him. They made a good bit of gear and meds before continuing on to the vault.

They traveled through the cliffs and rocky slopes until they found the old run down vault covered in a foundation of plants and flowers. The group was in awe, never have they seen real plants like these before in their lives and all in one place. Zack and Noah's eyes were instantly drawn to the welcome sigh. The rest of the group soon followed and read the words 'Stay out! The Plants Kill!'

"Well my feelings about this place went from bad to horrible." Skye said in a shaky voice.

"Ditto." Zack said as she raised his flamer.

"Hey keep your heads okay, let's just go in, get the girl and get the fuck out." Drake said. "Mike, Noah since you two are armed with the same guns, I'll have you two on point and clear the corners. I'll follow up behind you and Skye, you stay in the middle and Zack you'll cover the rear."

"Got it." Everyone said. Mike and Noah aimed their guns and shot down the giant mantis that were sneaking up on Drake, who jumped back and fell on his ass when he saw them. When they all fell dead, everyone laughed at Drake's unfortunate state of being covered in mantis guts.

"Looking good boss." Mike said, helping his leader up before stepping through the open door of Vault 22.

The two did a quick sweep and saw nothing of threat or value. "Clear." They said as the rest followed. When they made it inside they were greeted by the foul smelling air of the old world. The small entrance had no additional rooms or anything high of value so they moved on.

They made their way down multiple stairs and through many flower covered hallways and found nothing worth their time. When they found a lab they tried to enter, but the door was locked and there was no way of picking it. The same thing happened to a few other doors as well. Skye let out an angry grunt and kicked the door.

"Dammit, how the hell could this Keely girl get lost if all the damn doors are locked?" She looked back at her team. "Any thoughts?"

They all slumped against the walls trying to figure out something. While everyone was thinking, Drake saw an old Nuka-cola machine and cracked it open. Fortune smiled on them as he grabbed four colas and a quantum along with five discarded bottle caps.

Drake passed them to each of his teammates and they each popped their caps off and handed them to Skye. Every little bit counts. They clanked their bottles together and consumed their sweet drinks.

They all grunted at the sting of the cola hitting their throats and tried to come up with a way to gain access to the vault. They all stood in silence in the corridor and waited for a solution. That was when Drake got an idea.

"I got it." He exclaimed, the rest of his team looked at him expectantly. "The Overseer's office. It has access to the whole damn Vault. I remember seeing it in a brochure from Vault 21 back at the strip." Everyone started to remember.

"That's right, if we can get access to the Overseer's office, then we can unlock all of the doors." Mike said.

"What if the computer is damaged?" Noah stated. "Or what if the damn thing needs a password."

"I can fix it and hack it." Skye said smugly. "I am from the Brotherhood, we practically feed on tech."

"And knowing those old bastards from the old world, they probably have the password named after something historical like Nevada or Hoover Dam."

"Alright people, let's get cracking." Drake grinned as he tossed his bottle on the ground and shattering it to pieces. He packed the quantum away and Skye looked at him confused.

"Aren't you going to drink that?" She asked as they walked pass some plants.

"Hell no, quantum is the nastiest thing ever to be invented." He snorted.

"He's not wrong." Zack chipped in. "I drank one of those once and my pissed glowed for a week."

"Nice." Mike snickered.

"Well that's what you get for drinking a beverage with isotope in the mix." Noah chuckled.

Everyone else shared a laugh except for Zachary, not because he was embarrassed, but because he thought he saw the bushes in the corner of the hall move. His thoughts kept going back to that sign outside.

"Hey guys, do you think that the plants here are really alive?" He asked, his hands gripped the handle of his flamer tightly. Noah just let out another snort.

"Come on, plants coming to life and killing people?" He asked rhetorically. "The poor bastard that I ran into in Boulder City is probably the same guy who wrote that on the sign. It's gotta be the mantis's. You saw how well they blended into that grass. They had Drake fooled into thinking they were just plants."

"Still, giant mantises are nothing to joke about." Drake said. "But I can't see them taking out a well-armed group of mercs, surprise attack or not."

"Yeah, something is defiantly off." Mike warned. "I feel like I am being watched."

"Let's just get to that office." Drake said. "It's in the common area."

Zachary and Skye felt more and more uneasy as they made their way down the stairs and into the common quarters. They both checked their Pip-boys for any signs of activity and their eyes widened in horror as they stepped onto the balcony overlooking the lower floor.

Drake was currently looking at the vines growing through the ceiling and winding on around the rails. He reached his hand out and poked one of the roots. He jumped when he heard Skye shout at them.

"Guys, we have to get out of here!" She shouted. "We've been so dense. The goddamn plants _are_ alive!"

Before Drake could react he felt something grab his backpack and pull him over the railing. He fell backwards and landed on his back. The wind was knocked out of him and his vision was temporarily blurred, but he was able to see the ugly green humanoid hanging on the large plant vine.

He quickly grabbed his riot shotgun and fired on the ugly bastard blowing him to pieces. The monster let out a choked growl before falling on the ground next to him.

"Drake," Noah yelled. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," He said. "This thing grabbed me, I got it though."

"What is it?" Mike asked.

Upon closer examination, Drake saw that this thing had the form of a human, but the spike on its back and the moss covered skin were completely inhuman. It didn't even have any eyes. Drake jumped when he heard another growl. He looked over at a classroom and saw another one of these things crawl out the door.

"Skye, how many more are there?" Drake asked, aiming his gun at the monster.

"A lot more."

Drake shot the monster dead and a few more that followed after him. Up above, Noah and Mike fired their carbines at the monsters on the adjoining bridges that led to the other side of the room.

Skye covered Drake with her rifle as he reloaded his shotgun. Zachary went back the way they came and wasn't surprised to see more of the little monsters scurrying down the hallway. He let out a battle cry and unleashed a stream of fire on them. The hallway made it very easy to burn them all down. He was so busy taking down the ones in the hall he didn't see the one sneaking up behind him.

He felt the monster climb up on the fuel tank on his back and he tried to shake it off. He quickly back up against the wall and crushed it between the wall and his fuel tank. He felt the weight drop off his back and he quickly turned and pulled out his trusty revolver Lucky. The creature took a swipe at him, but he skipped backwards and put a bullet in its head.

Back down below Drake was burning through his shells too fast. His bandoliers were empty and he was loading the last of his spare shells into the drum magazine. He was still standing in the main corridor and was slowly backing up against the wall as the creatures advanced on him.

When loading his last shell he flinched when one of them jumped at him and ended up dropping his shell just so he could shoot at it. He was left with ten shots in his gun and these things were coming out of the wood work.

"Drake, what are you doing, run!" Skye shouted as she clipped another one of the creatures.

Drake's only option was to go into a side room, which looked just as bad as bad as the corridor. He quickly reached behind his back and grabbed a grenade and tossed it into the room, after pulling the pin.

It went off and by the sound of it, took few of them with it. Drake quickly rushed in and sealed the door behind him. He opened fired on a couple more that were still holding on, but it cost him his last few shells. One charged at him and he quickly smacked it with his gun before pulling out his .45 and shooting it in the head.

Noah and Mike were laying down suppressing fire, but they just kept coming. "Reload!" Noah said as he quickly changed clips, while Mike covered him. Zachary was trying to load his flamer, but he panicked when he heard the hiss of gas. One of the creatures had punctured the tank.

Furious, he quickly discarded the weapon and switched to his multiplas rifle. He turned the green monsters into green goop and made his way over to his friends. Noah was about to reload his gun, when a plant snatched around his gun and yanked it out of his hands before tossing it away.

Noah panicked when he saw the monster smile at him with razor sharp teeth and drew his 10mm handguns and blew it to bits.

"Noah!" Noah looked over at Skye who was also using her handguns to fend off the creatures. "Drake is trapped he needs help!"

"I'm coming!" He quickly jumped over the rail and down on the lower level. He aimed his handguns and unloaded all of his bullets at them.

Inside the room, Drake quickly pulled off his back pack and reached inside for the 9mm handgun he grabbed earlier. He fired both handguns at the creatures and quickly rushed out to help Skye, who was now chopping away at them with her machete after dropping one of her guns.

Zack and Mike had finished clearing the top floor and quickly ran down the stairs to help their friends. Mike pulled out his .44 magnum and shot another living plant that was handing above Drake's head.

Meanwhile, Noah's guns were empty and he was backed into a class room. Two creatures were slowly approaching him. He had to be quick as they have proven to be sneaky and fast. He reached behind him and gripped the handle of his sawed-off shotgun.

Before he could pull it out, he felt sheer pain through his right ankle. He looked down and cursed himself for not noticing the large bush behind him and the monster within. He pressed the barrel against its skull and blew its head off before turning and shooting another one in mid-air.

He tried to reload, but he was quickly tackled to the ground. His armor had protected him from its claws, but it was snapping and biting its way to Noah's throat. In his struggle his eye had caught sight of Drake's discarded shotgun shell.

Acting fast, he quickly pressed his boot against the creature's chest and kicked it off. He quickly grabbed his gun and the shell and loaded his gun. He smacked it across the side of its head before blowing its head off.

He quickly loaded his sawed-off and ran out of the room and into the corridor. Drake picked up Noah's carbine and handed it to him. Noah muttered a thank you before leaning against the wall and slumping down to the floor.

"What the fuck just happened?" Mike snapped. "Why didn't we see them when we came in?"

"We did, they were hiding in plain sight." Skye muttered. "Seriously, the sign the rumors, they were all true. We gotta get out of here."

"No," Drake said. "We have a job to do and we are going to do it."

"Drake, it isn't worth it." Mike said. "We came here expecting to fight a few rad roaches and drifters. Not goddamn abominations!"

"We have a job to do." Drake enforced. "A girl hired us to get her friend back and that is what we are going t do." Everyone looked over at Noah when he let out a loud sigh.

"Dammit, Drake…guys, the girl was a secondary assignment." He said with a guilty expression. Zack narrowed his eyes at him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked. Noah shook his head and stood up, cringing in pain from his monster bite.

"Upstairs in the Overseers office, we can catch our breath and I can explain everything."

Everyone eyed him as he limped his way up the stairs. Drake felt uneasy. _What was his friend hiding from him?_ He wondered as he stepped over the many corpses of the plant monsters.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Another Days Pay**

**Authors Note: Thank you all once again for your support and feedback. I am glad you enjoyed my last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this next one. And apologies to Assozat for pronouncing Zachary as Zack not Zach, my bad. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout New Vegas.**

* * *

In the Overseers office, Drake and Mike were reloading the empty clips with bullets while Skye hacked into the computer of the vaults mainframe. Zachary kept guard outside in case more of those things showed up, but was kept within earshot of Noah.

"The other day when I went back to Camp McCarran," He started. "I had myself a conversation with a doctor by the name of Thomas Hildern who believed he could turn the whole Mojave into vast valley of green plants."

Everyone looked at him in disbelief. They could never believe that the whole Mojave Desert could be a replaced a green plain of land or a forest or even a jungle. It was all a pipe dream.

"He told me about the data that should be kept in a server room down below."

"Found it." Skye announced. "It a few floors below us, maybe we can find Keely down there too, hopefully." Drake looked over at Noah, Noah could see the anger and mistrust in his eyes.

"I assume she is the main purpose why we're here?" Drake snapped.

"Hey, his assistant told me about the ghoul, I did plan on rescuing her." Noah said defensively. "The data was second on my mind so don't you think for a second I chose data over life."

"Then why didn't you tell us about that data?" Mike asked, pushing another 5.56 round into his clip.

"Because, I just didn't want to hear about how vault technology won't do us any good in the Mojave." Noah groaned. "The caps were good and the doc had a good point. This vault is evidence that life can grow and if we can somehow get this out there the Mojave could help a lot of people. The lands will be fertile for growing and our chances of survival will increase immensely."

"Yeah, except that those things out there, they were citizens of the Vault." Skye stated. Everyone including Zachary stepped in and waited for an explanation. "There are notes on the computer, they are scrambled, but I can make out most of it. It says here that a fungus that was meant to colonize the pest, but it only ended up spreading. These things were once Vault Citizens who got infected. They are now known as Spore Carriers."

"Are we infected?" Zachary asked.

"No, but these things do tend to spread like wild fire. Just shoot them before they can get you and we'll be fine." She explained. Drake looked back at Noah, who looked stunned.

"This is why the Vaults failed back then." Drake said. "They didn't care about the people enough to save them, they just locked them down here so they could run more test on them."

"Drake…"

"Stop, we have a job to do." He said. "You want the data you go and get it, but we are going after the girl and getting the hell out of here. You can have the reward for the data and split it with anyone else, but I don't want any part of it."

"Drake, I found her, she is hold up in some place called pest control." Skye exclaimed. "It's a few floors down. We can make it."

"Alright people, breaks over." Drake said as he loaded a clip into his .45 and grabbed his shotgun. "Let's go get the girl, Noah and Mike front, Skye switch to your side arms your rifle isn't going to do us any good close range. Let's get in and get out."

Everyone quickly made their way through the halls of Vault 22. Noah and Mike kept up the pressure by shooting at all the bundles of plants and the carriers as well. Drake had swapped his buck shots for dragon breath rounds. He lit up any plants that looked funny to him.

Zachary used his Multiplas rifle and turned them into goop and Skye picked them off with her dual 10mm handguns. They had finally made it into pest control where they found the door to the underground caverns. They tried to open it, but it was locked. Drake saw that the lock was computer operated.

"Shit." Zachary grunted. Skye whipped past him and swiped a key card in the slot and the red light above the door turned green.

"Key card, found it in the desk in the Overseers office." She said. She opened the door and gasped when she had encountered a few Mantises.

Noah sprayed the small cave with lead and watched as the little insects turned into green chunks. He waved his arm into the hall.

"The way is clear," He chuckled.

The team made it down the cave and Drake took the lead. He set fire to all the bundles of plants and listened to the dying cries of the carriers. He should feel bad for killing them seeing as they were once people, but at the same time he thought he was doing them a favor by putting them out of their misery.

Zachary threw an incendiary grenade at the corner of the hall and when it went off it killed two of the carriers. Once they got an understanding of how these creatures hunt, killing them has been a lot easier since that encounter in the common area.

They searched the whole damn floor for Keely, but to no avail she was nowhere to be found. Zachary walked down another hall and had found a busted down door. He cautiously stepped inside and saw a large dash board ripped from the wall.

"Hey guys, in here." He shouted.

The group quickly followed him inside and observed the dash board.

"You think she's down there, she could be one of those fucking freaks or in their stomachs for all we know." Mike snapped, aiming his carbine down the tunnel. Drake set his hand on his shoulder.

"Settle down, we just need to be calm and collected." He said soothingly. "We will go in and check the cave. If we don't find her then we get the hell out of here. Okay?"

"Okay." Mike nodded. "Let's get this shit over with."

Drake readied his shotgun and nodded in approval. The rest of the team made their way down the tunnel and after a minute of walking they made their way to the edge of a cavern. Drake looked down and saw that the cave was crawling with Giant Mantises and Spore Plants.

Drake looked around and saw that they were a few feet above ground.

"Okay, Skye time for you to take point up here and keep us covered." She nodded and readied her rifle as Mike and Noah both readied their carbines and Zachary stepped next to Drake. "Alright, let's finish this."

Drake and Zach jumped down first and take out all of the close ranged Mantises. Skye picks off any Mantis and Spore Plants she can find. Mike and Noah jumped down as well and scatter fire at anything that isn't human.

Skye picked off a Mantis that was creeping up behind Mike while Zachary blasted a Sport Plant that popped up in front of him. Bullets and fire spread across they cavern taking out anything that moved.

Drake was now out of Dragon Breath rounds and was using his .45. Mike checked the clip of his carbine and was upset to see it empty.

"Noah, you got anymore bullets or clips?" He asked. Noah shook his head.

"The only heavy ammo I have left is the shotgun shells, MF cells and Skye's rifle rounds, and those are almost gone too."

"You want my shotgun?" Drake asked, handing his weapon to Mike. He passed it off and pulled out his .44.

"Nah, I'm good." He said spinning the cylinder.

They all jumped when they heard a raspy voice from the darkest corner of the cavern. Everyone raised their gun, but kept their trigger fingers at ease as a slender ghoul stepped out from the darkness.

"Took your sweet time." She said. "I suppose the NCR sent you?"

"Yes, a girl named Angela Williams asked us to come find you." Noah said. Keely smiled.

"Ah, she's such a dear." She smiled with her crusty lips before frowning. "Not like that pompous little pedant she works for." She stood up and tossed a frag grenade up and down in her hand. "But that's neither here nor there. These plants have gotten completely out of control. I've got a way to deal with them, but I'll need your help."

"We'll do whatever we can to end this shit." Skye said. Drake gave Keely a 9mm handgun and a few clips as well and they made their way to a lab on the second floor, oxygen and recycling. They took out a few carriers along the way and made their way into a lab. Keely clapped her hands together.

"Good we're here, you guys ready to begin?" They all nodded.

"What do we need to do?" Drake asked.

"Time is of the essence so I'll make it quick." She said. "This place is filled with spores that are toxic to humans, and we need to get rid of them." She walked over to a console and pressed a few buttons.

"So we pump the place full of gas, ignite it and kill all of the spores." Mike stated. "Can we really do it?"

"Yes, but there is a problem." Keely admitted. "The gas becomes semi-insert on exposure to oxygen, meaning the gas will have to be ignited close to where it's being introduced."

"Leave it to me." Zachary said. "I can rig up a grenade and get the hell out of there before anything can happen."

"Alright, but be careful." Drake said.

"I'll go with him." Noah said. "There is a server room next to that busted down door we can barricade ourselves there."

Zachary nodded and made his way out. Noah used his 10mm's and kept the carriers at bay. Zachary used his Multiplas rifle to take out the ones he missed. Noah led Zach to the server room after finding the vents just around the corner from it. Noah stood by the controls of the door and Zach readied a grenade.

On sync, Zach threw the grenade and Noah closed the door. The grenade landed next to the vents and went off. Flames engulfed the halls and shook the whole damn halls. When the flames finally died down, the two stepped out and quickly made their way back to their group.

Once they had made it back Drake had ran up to them with a worried expression.

"Shit are you guys okay?" He asked. "We felt the whole damn tunnel shake."

"We're fine." Zach said. "Now if we're all set I'm gonna rig up some C-4 to the entrance and wipe this place off the map."

"Great and I'll have you know that Keely and I have created an access to the vaults backup system." Skye announced. "She can erase all the data and stop this madness from ever happening again."

"Actually I can't." Keely said. Everyone crowed over her so they could see the computer. "It says here that the files have been accessed recently and copied onto and external source."

Everyone looked at Noah, who had a stern face, but Mike could see it in his eyes. He went behind their backs.

"Noah, hand it over." Mike said, extending his hand.

"Guys, let's just…" He let out a sigh and reached into his pocket and pulled out a drive. "Here, this data isn't worth it. I'm sorry."

Mike nodded and took that data and set it on the table. He pulled out his .44 and smashed the drive into pieces with the butt of his gun. Drake stepped up to Noah.

"Noah, no more secrets." He warned. "We're a team and we can't have anyone lying to each other, otherwise we're not a real team."

"Right…" Noah muttered.

After Keely erased anything else that could be harmful they made their way outside. Zach had just finished setting up the rest of the explosives and had the detonator ready. The group stood at the far end of the canyon and watched as Zach pressed the button.

The rocky wall collapsed on top of the vault door and buried all the evil inside. Mike let out a heavy sigh and Drake laid his hand on his shoulder.

"You know after all of this it's no wonder why nukes went off all those years ago." Mike said.

"Yeah, its stuff like this is the reason the government seems like a bad idea today." Zach commented.

"You guys go ahead," Keely said. "And thank you for your help. I couldn't have gotten out without you."

The team said their farewells and made their way back to Camp McCarran. Drake walked inside and gave her the news.

"Keely just called," She giggled. "She cursed Hildren out for sending all of those people. I have never seen him so mad."

"Well he didn't exactly tell us about the dangers as well." Drake snarled. He watched Noah step into his lab.

"Thank you for your help, I owe you guys." She said as she handed them a bag of caps.

Before he could say thank you, he jumped when he heard a loud crash in his office. Noah walked out and was rubbing his fist.

"Come on guys, drinks are on me." He smiled.

"What about the doctor?" Skye asked.

"Well he was a bit angry that I destroyed the data and insulted how naïve I was." He said. "Then I brought up how many lives he wasted by sending people there and when he called me a coward my fist just shot out and struck his face."

"Huh, well that's unfortunate for him." Drake chuckled.

"I hope you brought your wallet because we are gonna get shit faced." Zach grinned.

"And how is that any different from any other night?" Noah laughed.

"Nothing like buying booze with an honest day's pay." Mike said.

The team left the camp and made their way back to their home back in New Vegas.


End file.
